Its mid November and rapidly heading to the arse end of the year, so I tend to be someone who likes the idea of hibernating. Shut those curtains, whack the heating on, cuddle a hot water bottle, and slurp up a very naughty mug of hot chocolate ( with all the trimmings of course).
However with the dogs and the kids hibernating all the time, is sadly not an option, ummm just the thought of spending 4 months of the foul winter snuggled in the warm gives me a warm glow. Back on track, the kids need a walk as much as the dogs, so today we headed out to a river and wood that has a great little crabbing spot.
You know those days when it all goes wrong, well today it actually miraculously nearly all went right.
In the car the kids, the baby and the dogs all behaved, with a bare minimum of fighting, in fact at one point I think I had a little nap while hubby drove. That's what happens when a teething baby keeps you up all night, you turn into a toddler and end up needing an afternoon nap.
When we arrived I hoped the little café shop would be open and was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually was. The owner had popped down for the last time this year, as it was a sunny afternoon, in case anyone wanted a cuppa, and to empty out the perishable stock ready for the long closure.
I really fancied a cuppa, but more importantly we had no crabbing lines, and he generously sold us 3 for the price of two. I have to admit that it was completely my fault that we had no lines. Being a bit brain dead I had been certain that I had emptied out the bags after the last trip. However roll on many weeks later and I am stood in the garage wondering what on earth the foul smell could possibly be. You can only imagine how nasty 3 crab lines sealed in a plastic bag with crab sticks, river water and seaweed can be!
While we enjoyed our cuppas the kids ran around in the mud covered play ground. I hate mud, its so fun when you are a kid, and yet as a mum all I see are the problems ( and the washing it brings). Where has the joy of mud gone for me :-(
After a while we dragged them on towards the pontoon. I am no expert on crab behaviour, and we have never been winter crab hunting before. Due to my ignorance I thought we might not catch any, based on my assumption that they may hibernate, slow down their lifestyle or at the very least move to some deeper water.
How wrong I was, we caught loads, and they were whoppers, and sadly so were their nasty nipping claws, argghhhh. A little lad appointed himself our head crab grabber and helped to get the crabs into our bucket.
I started off waiting with the dogs in the path, but they were being a pain so I decided to tie them up while I helped the kids. Imagine this me on a wobbly pontoon, hanging on to a very bulky and heavy 11 month old Elliot, trying to tie up the two dogs. Kelvin went smoothly, but the lovely Abby slipped her collar. So there is me with Elliot under my arm, one hand holding Kelv and the empty collar, and the other grabbing a handful or mud covered Abby fur. A lovely lady offered to help, but luckily Ali came back to help before I dropped Elliot over the side.
Ali took the dogs off for a run, and all went well for a while. Until Abby decided that it would be fun to race down the pontoon like a greyhound. Now this would not have been too bad if it was not for the 3 year old little girl that she nearly sent flying into the water every time she passed.
We emptied the crabs onto the low tide line and rewarded them with the left over raw bacon.
Aidan had the task of releasing the crabs, and managed to walk in the stinking low tide mud in his new shoes.
We decided to take the longer path back to the car, and luckily this went smoothly, especially considering the kids were heading towards the hungry and tired world of the grumpy.
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